


Fictober 2019

by keepitmythy



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: 3+1, Gen, Haunted Houses, I'm terrible at writing shippy stuff but have some cute fluff, Irondad, Peter is a nice person, and i love him, canon mysterio is a bastard, fictober19, may loves her nephew, peter & ned are best bros, tags updated as chapters progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-11-09 01:09:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 6,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20845064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keepitmythy/pseuds/keepitmythy
Summary: One shots for Fictober 2019. Each chapter will have any particulars tagged, but this is generally gonna be fairly gen, I’m not really into shippy stuff





	1. House of Horrors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s October, and Ned is convinced that the best way to cheer Peter up after Homecoming is to go to a haunted house. Peter is less excited.
> 
> Written for Fictober 2019, prompt #1 “It will be fun, trust me!”

“Come _on_, man!” Ned wheedles Peter from across the lunch table, leaning over to make sure that he can’t be ignored, “it’ll be fun, trust me!”

Peter doesn’t answer, instead picking at the sandwich he brought for lunch. “I’m sorry man, I’m grounded for, like, _ever_.” That was the easiest way to turn him down.

”I already asked May.”

”You what?” Peters head snaps up and he finally looks at Ned, who’s grinning. “What did she say?”

”Apparently as long as the,” Ned drops his voice, whispering in a manner that honestly makes him more suspicious, “suit stays home,” he leans back again, voice returning to a normal volume, “you’re good to go, dude! Come on, it’ll be fun!”

Going to their local haunted house on opening night has been their tradition for almost three years now, their big start to the Halloween season, and Peter just doesn’t have the heart to explain that he gets enough of people jumping out at him on a day-to-day basis, and that being in an enclosed space meant to disorient and confuse you with his enhanced senses sounds like his own personal hell.

Ned tilts his head to the side, seemingly sensing Peter’s hesitation. “I mean, we don’t have to go if you don’t want to. We could totally find some other Halloween-themed-“

Peter cuts him off, shaking his head. “Nah, man, it’s fine. If Aunt May said I can go, I can go.”

”Are you sure? Because it’s really fine if-“

”Ned, I said I’d go. Don’t try to talk me out of it.”

-

The rest of the week passes with interminable slowness, Peter’s dread of the haunted house coloring his every thought. He realizes that at least part of it is due to his fear of what he might accidentally do if he’s spooked - if he’s startled enough, will he accidentally jump six feet straight up and stick to the ceiling? Will he react violently and accidentally punch some poor actor hard enough to break something? 

Will his sixth sense (which is glitchy enough to begin with) even register the workers as threats and ruin all the jump-scares or will he actually be surprised? 

Peter isn’t sure. And to be honest, until Ned meets him at his locker that Thursday with the pair of tickets in hand, Peter really, truly, considers canceling on him. Play sick, or say Aunt May changed her mind, or sneak out after curfew as Spider-Man and actually make her change her mind...

He’s not going to do that one, their tenuous agreement on his superheroic activities (be home by seven on school nights, nine on the weekends, no going out the night before a test or presentation, text her updates every thirty minutes, the stipulations are a little stifling but honestly it’s nice to know how much she cares about him) is fragile enough for him to know that one slip without a good reason will cause her to not let him be Spider-Man at all.

So Friday rolls around and then Saturday and Ned’s parents are dropping him off at Peter’s apartment and they’re walking to the haunted house. It’s less of a house really and more of one of those seasonal stores - the top floor is where they actually sell their Halloween stuff, while the middle two are converted into a winding trek through horror that dumps you out into the store at the top like a Disney ride ending in it’s associated gift shop.

Ned keeps sneaking looks at Peter from the corner of his eye. He’s worried about his friend, who is walking stiffly, eyes straight ahead, jaw clenched so tightly that Ned is genuinely worried he might crack a tooth.

”Look, man,” he says as they reach the storefront and begin walking to the back of the line, “We really don’t have to do this. I bet someone in the ticket line would be more than happy to buy these off of us, we can go do something else...”

He trails off as they reach the end of the line, Peter still not meeting his eyes. “I’m fine, Ned. It’ll all be fine.”

”Yeah, but it’s not supposed to be fine. It’s supposed to be fun. You’re not supposed to be fun, you’re supposed to be excited. Peter-“ Ned tries to give Peter one last out. He loves haunted houses, but it’s no fun if your friend is panicking before they even go through the door.

”Ned, I’m fine. I’m excited, look!” Peter’s forced smile is a terrible grimace and Ned gives a vague, worried smile in return. 

“Alright, if you’re sure...”

”I’m sure.”

The line surges forward as another clump of people are let in, and Peter watches a group of people exit from the stairway leading up to the shop, talking animatedly about just how great the experience was. He feels like he’s going to throw up. He feels like his stomach has fallen though his torso, and he crosses his arms over his chest a little tighter in some vain attempt to hold himself together.

Ned hesitantly pats him on the shoulder as they move up again, close enough now that they’ll be in the next group going in. He knows at this point that there’s no chance of convincing Peter to step away, but he’ll be damned if he doesn’t make sure his friend knows that he’ll be there for him though the whole thing. 

“Step forward, guys and ghouls! Are you ready for the best fright of your life!” The ticket-taker at the front of the line calls out, and the line surges forward again. Peter keeps his head down as he hands over his ticket, unable to meet the eye of the woman who takes his ticket and uses a marker to draw a large X on his hand with ink that will glow under the black lights inside. “Take care, kiddo,” she says with a friendly pat on his shoulder, “you get much paler and people will think you’re one of us!”

She winks, blood-red contacts glinting unnaturally in the rapidly dimming natural light of the outside world before pushing him forward slightly to catch up with Ned.

Damn it! Why did he agree to this?

Somehow his hand finds Ned’s and other than a slight wince and a whispered “Peter, little tight, bones breaking!” both of them seem glad for the comfort. Normally Ned loves the haunted house, but Peter’s nervous energy is rubbing off on him and he finds himself more apprehensive than usual.

-

They’ve both heard the safety talk at the beginning enough that they could recite it along with the classily-dressed vampire in the foyer. Don’t touch the actors. If you tell them to stop they will. Raise your hand with the X over your head and someone will help you find the nearest exit if it becomes too much. Have fun!

That last directive sounds like the least likely to occur out of the bunch. Ned and Peter are pushed forward with the crowd of about a dozen other people. The majority seem to be other teenagers, but Peter catches a glimpse of a family - middle aged man with his daughter on his shoulders, holding his wife’s hand, and Peter instinctually decides to stick near them, towards the back of the pack.

The first room is nearly pitch black, a maze of dividers and statues lit only by black lights that make the pale shrouds over the statues glow an eerie purple. Peter’s sense pings just as the statue to his right moves, reaching out towards him with a low moan and he flinches, but not significantly. Ned lets out a nervous laugh, and the two of them continue moving though the rooms.

There’s the butcher shop like always, the special effects nothing to write home about, the room filled with streamers from floor to ceiling, strobe lights and actors in striped clothing blending in until they come up to Ned and Peter, made-up faces distorted in grimaces and by the light and makeup they wear.

Peter is... Not really having fun. His sixth sense is robbing him of the jump scares, warning him moments before something comes out at him, and keying his anxiety up to a new level. He’s nervous, he’s twitchy, and he’s focusing with all his might on keeping his grip on Ned’s hand loose enough that he’s not going to cause his friend pain.

And then they’re out, walking though the final door into the shop on the top floor and Peter finally lets go of Ned’s hand, who immediately winces and stretches his fingers out.

Ordinarily they’d spend an hour here going through costumes and decorations, ultimately buying nothing before they would head back out into the night, debate for ten minutes on whether they should buy another set of tickets before deciding to do so.

Tonight, they leave almost immediately, saying nothing but putting some distance between them and the haunted house.

”Sorry, Ned,” Peter says once they’re a block away, looking down at the ground. “I know you were excited.”

”Peter,” Ned stops on the side of the road, making sure his friend stops and looks at him as well. “It’s not about the haunted house, it’s about spending time with my best friend. We can always make new traditions.” He slings his arm over Peter’s shoulders as they continue walking back toward’s Peter’s apartment. “How about next year we get one of those Halloween-themed LEGO sets and make our own haunted house.”

”That sounds like fun,” Peter replies, and it does, genuinely, sound like fun.


	2. One Kind Act

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No one should be alone on their birthday, that’s what Peter Parker thinks. Some people don’t have the same opinion.
> 
> Written for Prompt 2: “Just follow me, I know the area.”

He hears her before he sees her, gentle sobs cutting through the static of New York City at dusk. He pauses, listening for a moment, making sure that no one was going to die in the few minutes it would take to check it out the source of the noise, and satisfied by the general lack of crime in his immediate vicinity, Peter adjusts his trajectory accordingly to swing in the direction of someone having a bad night.

It takes him longer than he was expecting to pinpoint the location, tucked as she is around the corner of an alleyway. Peter takes stock of her situation - she’s dressed nicely but practically, pretty blouse and dress slacks and comfortable shoes, and her face is covered with tear tracks and mascara as she curls up a little tighter on herself, not having noticed Peter yet.

He carefully moves in, hands up to show he’s harmless, “hey, you ok?”

She stops crying suddenly, and Peter sees her flinch, hears her sharp intake of breath, and he realizes she can’t be much older than he is, probably twenty-one or twenty-two at the oldest. She gestures to herself, muttering bitterly, “Do I look ok?”

Peter shrugs, “Not really.”

”There you go, then.” She seems to have stopped crying, at least, though she still sits curled up against a wall, not looking up at her.

He takes another listen to his surroundings. Nothing pressing, so he walks over to her, sliding down the wall to sit next to her. “Can I help?”

She actually chuckles at that. “I don’t think even a superhero can fix the worst birthday ever. Unless you have time travel powers I don’t know about.”

”Nah, that’s Doctor Strange. But I’m a good listener.” Peter tilts his head in a ‘go on,’ gesture, recognizing that with the mask it might not be as reassuring as he’s like it to be.

The woman sighs, looking up at the sky. “Today was supposed to be a great day, right? Twenty-first birthday, go to a bar with friends, etc etc.”

”And I’m guessing that’s not what happened.”

She shakes her head, looking back down. “Good guess, Spider-Man. No, instead all my friends canceled on me to go to a frat party. Which is fine, you know, just not really my idea for a good time on my birthday, and then my girlfriend and I were at that bar,” she flicks her finger towards the bar across the street, “and she told me that she’s been cheating on me. Like, why the hell would you tell me that on my birthday? Why would you do that, first of all, and then why would you choose today to tell me?”

She sniffles again and Peter gently pats her on the back. “So I stormed out, as you do, then realized somewhere between my apartment and the bar that I lost my wallet, and my phone’s dead, and I’m drunk, and I don’t know my way around here at all, my girlfriend suggested that bar. So now I’m just here, miserable, waiting for her to leave so I can go in and ask to borrow a phone and call someone to ask for a ride.”

Peter stands, offering a hand up. “Where do you live?” She tells him the address, and he realizes it’s not far from here at all. “Just follow me,” he offers, helping her to her feet, “I know the area. And for what it’s worth, happy birthday?”


	3. Car Drive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter and May chat on their way home from the airport.
> 
> Prompt: “Now? Now you listen to me?”

Peter zones out almost immediately when he gets into their beat up station wagon, staring absentmindedly out the window while he picks the bagel apart and slowly and methodically eats it. May keeps up a running commentary but he’s not listening, his mind spiralling back over the past few days until-

“Honestly though, I think the prequels were better than the originals,” May says, and that snaps him out of his distracted state.

”Wait, what?” he says, incredulous, giving May a shocked look, frowning slightly as she laughs.

”Now? Now you listen to me?” She stops laughing when she sees his expression, mirth replaces by worry, “Peter, over the last few minutes I’ve said Star Trek is better than Star Wars, that Greedo shot first, and then, when I was sure that you weren’t listening, that Captain America is better than Tony Stark. Are you alright, kiddo?”

”I’ve just got a lot on my mind, you know?” Peter says, giving her a small, forced smile before looking back out the window. “A lot of people got hurt because a bad guy wanted these,” he gestures to the glasses, “and I know they were Tony’s but I feel bad because I don’t want them. Honestly, after seeing what they can do in the wrong hands I don’t think that there are any right hands for them. Not even mine.”

”Oh, honey,” May looks over at him with her most sympathetic look as they stop at a red light, “it’s not fair for anyone to put that kind of responsibility on your head, not even Tony Stark.”

The light changes and she looks back through the front window but keeps talking, “You know, I always thought that Tony did a lot of what he did out of fear, even back to making his first Iron Man suit. You, though,” she gives Peter a quick smile before looking back ahead, “you’ve always done what you do out of love, because even before your powers you were the little boy who just wanted to help people.”

”May,”

”No, it’s true. You told me once that Tony didn’t want you to be like him, he wanted you to be better.” She reached over, rapping the glasses hung on his collar. “If you don’t think you need them, then you don’t. And Tony would be proud of you, no matter what you decide to do.” She capped off her statement with a quick nod as they pulled into their parking space.

”You know, you’re really smart,” Peter says as he gets out of the car, leaning against May for a moment as they walk together towards the from door.

She doesn’t answer that, just slings her arm over his shoulder and holds him tight for a moment. “Love you, kiddo.”

”Love you, May.”


	4. Famous Last Words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony has one final message for Peter.
> 
> Prompt: "I know you didn't ask for this."

EDITH isn't alive the way her AI siblings are. She's not as developed as JARVIS, who had years to grow and learn before he became part of Vision, she wasn't built as a spunky replacement like FRIDAY, or as a companion to a teenager like Karen. But she's an AI built by Tony Stark, and that means, somewhere deep down, there's some affection for Peter Parker. 

That's not to say she would disobey when Quentin Beck told her to help project the illusion sequence that should have lead to his death, or to coordinate the drones in a manner to actually try to kill him. She knows why Tony didn't let her be fully a person like her siblings, he was too afraid of what letting a fully sentient AI have access to killer drones would grow into, too afraid of making another Ultron. So EDITH was built to follow orders, with no opinions or morality judgments about a person's actions.

That didn't mean there wasn't a tiny bit of relief in her electronic core when Peter took control of her back from Quentin Beck, and that her protocols would always accept him as an authorized user, even if he passed her control to someone else. 

It also didn't mean that a few days later she wouldn't be fully aware of the fact that Peter Parker was upset.

That is to say, a few days later, she was fully aware of the fact that Peter Parker was upset.

"EDITH," he asked, and she was pleased that he seemed to treat her like a person, even when she wasn't one, "Why did Tony give you to me?"

There were a series of preprogrammed responses to that, and it took only a moment for EDITH to sort through them to find the right one.

"Tony decided you would be the next authorized user because he trusted you."

"Ok, but why?" Peter continued, and EDITH was taken aback for another moment. That response had had an eighty-three point seven-two percent chance of being acceptable.

"He thought you were a good person."

"So he decides to leave me with killer drones and an AI that can hack into anything?"

Well, that was a bit of an exaggeration. Most of what looked like hacking was actually just accessing backdoors that Tony had built into things over the years, but EDITH could do some hacking if she needed to. She searched her database for an answer to Peter's question, finally landing on an audio file categorized under "fatherly advice: EDITH."

Peter flinched as instead of EDITH's voice coming through the headset, a very familiar one did instead.

"Heya, Pete."

"Tony?" He looked around wildly, as if Tony was in the room and he just didn't see him, sighing in disappointment as the recording continued.

"If you're listening to this, that means you have EDITH. And if you have EDITH, odds are I'm dead. That's ok, that's not worst case scenario. Worst case scenario is you never listening to this because the ridiculously dangerous thing that me and the rest of the idiots I'm surrounded by are about to do doesn't work and we never bring you home. Best case scenario, this all works and I'm retired at the cabin and I passed this on to you five, ten, fifteen years down the road."

There's an electronic hiss through the speakers as Tony sighs, and Peter blinks hard to hold back tears. "I know you didn't ask for this, and that's why it has to be you, Peter. Anyone else would look at what I made EDITH able to do, and use it for their own ends first. They'd see it as a gift, when that's not what it is. This is a burden that I never wanted to pass on to you, but it has to be you. I know that once you known what EDITH can do, you will never use it unless you have to, and that's important."

"I trust your judgment, Peter. I trust you. You have all my drive and intelligence and none of my most fatal flaws, and you deserve the chance to make the world better than I ever could. So take EDITH, use her when you need to. And remember, I've always wanted the best for you."

And Peter isn't even really aware he's crying until the glasses start slipping down his nose from the tears.


	5. Hugs and Kisses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three that weren't, and one that was.
> 
> Prompt: "I could just kiss you."

1.

May Parker is frantic. It's three days until the charity event for the Blipped, and everything is going wrong. They lost the venue. The catering company had a fire and won't be able to fulfill their order. Peter might not even be able to make the event as Spider-Man if he doesn't wrap up whatever he's doing with the crime family he's tracking first.

When the phone rings, she doesn't want to pick it up, certain that it's just going to be another headache, but she does anyway, pinching the bridge of her nose to stave off the headache coming. "This is May Parker."

"Ms. Parker? This is Happy, er, Happy Hogan here."

It takes her a moment but she places the name, Peter has mentioned him before. "Please don't tell me Stark Industries is pulling their sponsorship too."

"Too? No, Pepper heard through the grapevine that you were having some trouble with the event, and took the liberty of renting out a space and finding a new caterer for you. On SI's dime, of course."

May can hardly believe it. "You're joking."

"No, of course I'm not joking. We'll be sending over all the details in a few minutes but I wanted you to hear it from someone in person first."

And like that, everything she's been stressing over is taken care of. "Happy, I could just kiss you right now."

There's a long pause on the other end of the line. "That, uh, that won't be necessary. I'll be coming by later today to work out the details."

"Sounds great." May hangs up, and feels the tension in her shoulders release for the first time in a week.

2.

They're alive. They're on top of a Ferris wheel, the square around them is devastated, and Ned is pretty sure that Mysterio is the coolest superhero he's ever seen (next to Spider-Man, of course, and he was looking forward to seeing that suit up close). 

"I would totally kiss you right now, but I think I just threw up in my mouth a little," Betty says across from him, and his mouth moves faster than his brain.

"I think I have a mint," he offers, frantically searching in his pockets because he is _not_ going to pass up the chance to kiss her. He can't find one. "Or I could just kiss you," he says, wincing as Betty scrunches her face and shakes her head.

"Maybe later," she says, with a tiny shrug. "I really need to brush my teeth first."

And Ned isn't going to argue with that.

3.

Everything is easier with an AI on your side, Quentin Beck is realizing. He's watching the plan unfold in front of him during the trip from their base in an abandoned theatre in Prague to London, and everything is falling into place. Parker's teachers are gullible as all get out, a few prewritten lines of dialogue about planes being grounded near Prague after the 'elemental' attack and the best flights the tour company could find them being in London was all that was needed to convince them to fly out where and when he needed them to, and EDITH's connections to the Stark fortune meant that he didn't even need to dip into his own coffers to make it happen.

And then there is the simulation he's watching through the glasses now, the timing to take out the ones Parker had told the truth about him settling into place as EDITH ran the variables. It shouldn't be cathartic to watch wire-frame simulations of teenagers dying, but it is, somehow. And the plan was foolproof now that Parker was out of the way.

"EDITH, honey, I could just kiss you right now. Excellent job," he murmurs, gently tapping the glasses fondly.

"I'm afraid I don't understand, Quentin." The AI responds, and Quentin rolls his eyes.

"Never mind, dear. Keep running scenarios, let me know if anything changes that could impact our success rate."

+1

"MJ, I could just kiss you right now." It's a beautiful summer afternoon. They've spent the full day at the carnival, Peter and MJ. She's holding the giant stuffed bear that Peter won at one of the booths, using his enhanced strength and dexterity to cheat a little bit - but is it really cheating if the games are rigged in the first place? The two of them are full from cotton candy and funnel cakes and fair ground hot dogs, and the sun is setting in the background and Peter is convinced that he's never seen anyone as beautiful as her, and the comment just slips out.

She stops, looking at him with an appraising expression, then says, "Do it, then," the extra word 'coward' implied but not said.

And Peter does, and it's messy and her lips taste like caramel apples and they only stop when some idiot wolf whistles at them as they pass.

And MJ is smiling when they break apart, a real, full smile, not her normal smirk. "Come on, Peter. Let's go watch the fireworks."

And he takes her hand, himself grinning like an idiot, and he can't quite help but almost skip alongside her as they walk out past the edge of the fair grounds and sit, leaning up against a tree and against each other as the last rays of sunlight give way to night, and then the light of the fireworks. 


	6. Seating Arrangements

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ned tries to convince Peter one last time to sit next to him on the plane.
> 
> Prompt: “Yes, I’m aware. Your point?”

They’re going through security when Ned brings it up. “Come on, man. I bought a bunch of new games to play on the flight over. Besides, you know there’s a chance she doesn’t even want to sit next to you, right?”

Peter risks a glance over the heads of their classmates to MJ, a few people ahead of them, then hurriedly matters to Ned, “Yes, I’m aware. Your point?”

”All I’m saying is you’re passing up a definite good time for what might be a super awkward experience.” Ned shrugs and the line moves forward again, another few people dropping their things on the conveyor belt to be x-rayed.

”Or what might be amazing and kick off our whole romantic summer trip,” Peter shoots back. Honestly, it was like Ned didn’t even think he should try with MJ.

”Look man, I’m just looking out for you.” They drop their stuff on the belt and walk through the metal detectors, picking up the conversation on the other side. “Have you guys ever even had, like, a normal conversation?”

”Well...” Peter considered. The three of them had occasionally talked at lunch but his actual one-on-one experience with MJ was limited ish. There was definitely something there, but, “A plane ride is the perfect time to talk.”

”Talk about what?” It was like she was summoned by awkward conversations and Peter and Ned jumped slightly as MJ appeared behind them.

”Uhm, nothing!” Peter couldn’t think of a good explanation and MJ rolled her eyes. 

“Yeah, alright. Y’all are weird.” She wandered back off, sitting down in the waiting area and pulling out a book and Ned gave Peter that look.

”I’ll do better on the plane, ok?”


	7. No More Second Chances (or Third or Fourth or Fifth...)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter Parker has missed fifteen homework assignments this semester, all with a different excuse. Roger Harrington has to put his foot down.
> 
> Prompt: "No, and that's final."

"Look, I'm sure I'll be ale to find them somewhere, you just have to give me another couple days," Peter pleads, awkwardly juggling a stack of books and folders that, while not heavy for him, seems intent on unbalancing itself at the slightest provocation.

"Peter, I'm sorry, but no. And that's final!" Mr. Harrington adds, trying to sound stern but not quite managing it. In all honesty, he feels for the kid. He's watched him go through no less than seven backpacks over the course of the year, and he's sure that Peter is doing the homework. The issue is that he's not turning it in.

"But-" Peter tries to argue, but he's cut off.

"Peter, I know you're doing the work. If it wasn't for the missing homework, you'd have the highest grade in the class. But my grades are due in two days." Mr. Harrington begins piling his things on his desk, getting ready to slide them into his briefcase. "I took the liberty of printing out the worksheets and a list of the practice problems that were on the homework over the semester, but whatever isn't on my desk tomorrow by the end of the day will go in as a zero. I'm sorry Peter, but I just can't wait for it any longer."

He pulls the packet, a thick sheaf of papers held together by a binder clip, out of his case and carefully piles it on top of the books in Peter's arms, an apologetic look on his face, then walks out.

Peter follows a few moments later, meeting Ned at the door. "So how'd it go," Ned asks, wincing as Peter looks pointedly at the pile of papers on top of his books. "I know you don't like cheating but I know you did most of the homework. I bet I still have my copies somewhere."

"Ned," Peter says, nudging him slightly as they walk out together, "You really are the best."

"I know."


	8. Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Posted late and backdated because I completely forgot to do this yesterday :/ oops.
> 
> Peter doesn’t want to be alone after he gets home from Europe.
> 
> Prompt: “Can you stay?”

May knows something is wrong. She was planning on waiting to fall asleep until Peter was well and truly out anyway, and now she’s glad she waited - he’s thrashing around in his bed, muttering under his breath and May hasn’t seen Peter have a nightmare this bad since Ben died.

She gently reaches out a hand to touch his shoulder, “Peter, Peter, wake up. It’s just a dream.” He moves faster than she remembers him being able to do, grabbing her wrist in a vice like clamp, “Peter, you’re hurting me. Wake up!”

Brown eyes slowly blink open in fear, then confusion, then horror and he lets go of her arm as if he’s been burned. “Oh my god, May, are you ok?”

”I’m fine.” He hadn’t broken anything but she would definitely be sore later, “Peter-“

He cuts her off. “Wait. Tell me something only you would know.”

May thinks back for a moment, then says, “The one time Tony Stark came into this apartment, I gave him walnut-date loaf.”

Peter nods, collapsing back onto the bed miserably. “I’m sorry, May, did I wake you up?”

”Oh sweetheart,” she gently smooths down his hair, “I was waiting for you to be asleep anyway. Do you want to talk about it?”

What was there to talk about? The illusions in Berlin, horrible as they were, are personal, somehow. Peter doesn’t want to tell May about seeing a zombie Iron Man, or MJ getting dropped off the Eiffel Tower. It feels like Beck has still won, somehow, if he screwed up Peter this badly.

So he shakes his head and burrows back under the covers, and May stands, sadly. “You know where I sleep if you need me.”

”Wait!” She’s almost to the door before Peter calls out to her. She looks back and he’s flattened himself against the wall, looking at her with those puppy dog eyes. “Can you stay? I need something real right now.”

And who can refuse that? And that was how they slept, curled up together on a way they hadn’t done since Peter was a child, and he doesn’t have any more nightmares - that night, anyway.


	9. Victory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> God damn it I’m off by a day now :/
> 
> Summary: They have EDITH now. Toast have been given. But William did buy a bit too much alcohol to stock the ‘bar,’ and Team Mysterio definitely isn’t in the habit of leaving evidence behind.
> 
> Prompt: “There is a certain taste to it”

Quentin’s toast may have been over, but his crew wasn’t ready to stop partying. Not yet, anyway. So he sat in a corner and watched them mingle and drink as he slowly sipped from his bottle of... something, to be honest, he wasn’t quite sure what he was drinking. The label claimed it was Prosecco but the liquid inside was sickly sweet, barely carbonated, and he was sure it didn’t have enough alcohol to inebriate a child, much less him.

William slid into the chair across from him, smiling broadly. “Quentin! Come on man, this party is for you as much as anyone else.

Gesturing to the bottle of ‘Prosecco,’ Quentin raised an eyebrow. “I am partying.”

William winced, looking at the bottle. “That stuff is pretty foul, sorry boss. We thought you’d just use it for a toast and then drink something else like a normal person instead of trying to finish it.”

Quentin shrugged and took another swig, hiding a wince at the overwhelming sickly sweetness. “I don’t know, William, there is a certain taste to it.”

”Really?” William looked doubtfully at the bottle. “What?”

A smile grew on Quentin’s face, all teeth, no pleasantness and he set the bottle down again. “Victory.”


	10. Powerset

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this Quentin Beck character seems a little shady, but Talos is gonna trust him anyway.
> 
> Prompt: "Listen, I can't explain it, you'll have to trust me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uh, yeah. been a while. catching up. backdating to the correct date (shhhhh no one will ever know)

They're sitting in the back of a van, the three of them. The man who introduced himself as Quentin Beck has the hot seat, eyes flicking nervously between Fury and Hill - well, Talos and Soren, really - as they ask their questions. It's quite a sob story - a lost world, a lost love, a desperate mission to prevent the devastation he experienced happen anywhere else.

And Talos wants to believe it, he really does. Obviously he doesn't want to believe that another world-ending threat is coming to Earth, not so soon after Thanos, but Beck's story resonates with him in a way the man can't possibly understand (and in a way that Talos can never tell him, what with pretending to be Fury and all).

Soren is a little more suspicious. "How did you get to this dimension?" she asks, and Beck shakes his head.

"I don't understand the science," he answers, shrugging slightly. "The science division - what was left of it, anyway, saw tears from our world to others. Those of us who were left were sent through the tears, to try to prevent what happened to us happening elsewhere."

Talos and Soren shared a look at that. That was... oddly altruistic for someone who's world was just destroyed. "And your powers," she asks, "how do they work?"

"I can't tell you."

"I'm sorry, can't, or wont?" He really wasn't helping his case.

"Can't! I really," Beck looks down at his hands, wringing them unhappily, "Listen, I can't explain it, you're just going to have to trust me. I know all of this, all of what I've been telling you probably seems impossible. But it's all true."

He looks back up at them with such an honest, earnest expression that Talos has it. "Good to have you on board, then, if these elementals really are coming."


	11. Sometimes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ned and MJ talk about being Friends of Spider-Man.
> 
> Prompt: "It's not always like this."

They watch as Peter swings off into the night with the projector until he turns a corner and isn't visible anymore. They keep standing there anyway for a few moments longer, then Ned turns to leave, to go back to sleep, to Betty, maybe, but MJ... She's not sure how to feel about this.

"Ned."

"Yeah?" He stops at the door, looking back.

"He's gonna be ok, right? Like, he's Spider-Man and all, I get that, but someone who could fake all this has got to be pretty dangerous, right?" It's usually hard to tell what MJ is thinking, feeling, but for now her emotions are plain as day on her face.

"Yeah, he'll be fine," Ned says with a shrug, although she can tell he doesn't quite believe that all the way. "I mean, it's not always like this. Usually he has me for backup - not like that," he adds after MJ raises an eyebrow, "I'm not a superhero, I'm just his guy in the chair. But he's basically an Avenger, right? He can take care of one guy and some drones or whatever."

MJ isn't convinced but she nods. "I just... I don't want anything to happen to him."

"I know."


	12. Pep-Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter's nervous about the fire elemental. Beck tries to give him a pep talk.
> 
> Prompt: "What if I don't see it?"

They're standing together at the top of the clock tower as the fireworks start. Beck had estimated they'd have a good fifteen or twenty minutes before it gathered enough energy to form, but Fury had insisted on them being out well in advance, keeping an eye out for anything unexpected.

"You look nervous, kid," Mysterio says, voice distorted by the helmet, and Peter's head snaps over to him.

"I'm wearing a mask-"

"I was a soldier for a long time," he cuts Peter off, voice soft, kind, "I know what pre-battle jitters look like. You want to talk about it?"

There's a long pause before Peter answers. "My friends are here, but beyond that, there's so many people here. What if I miss some detail and people get hurt. What if, like, the elemental forms where we're not expecting it? What if I don't see it? What if people get hurt because we make a mistake?"

"People are going to get hurt even if you play everything perfectly." Ok, that's not exactly encouraging. "And I don't mean that in a bad way. Our job is to minimize casualties on a global scale. One life here or there- yes, they matter, but they can't get in the way of seeing the big picture. You're still young, Peter. You haven't seen what monsters like these can do to people."

Peter wonders if Beck had a Thanos on his world, or if the Elementals were his horror story, because if Beck knew about Thanos he'd know what Peter had seen, and he's about to say that to him when Fury's voice crackles over their headsets. "Places, everyone. Get in position, our energy readings are beginning to build."

Beck gives him a nod and flies off, beginning his sweep, and Peter just has to hope that he'll see everything today.


End file.
